new jersey zone #21???
 

does anybody hunt zone 21 in n.j???

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Yes, actually today I did. what are you looking to know?

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

coming down for the late bow season........its are first year going down.how is the deer herd?i hear it great.just looking for some input.thanks

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

unless you have to hunt zone 21 (the pine barrens) i would look elsewhere.i spent many days in that zone and finding tracks was tough. the deer are way down this year. the northern zones are better. if your traveling far look at zone 8 or 5.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

I have to disagree. I hunt Double Trouble State Park almost every week during bow season, and I saw tracks, including clear as day buck tracks, every time I went out. I only saw three does this year, yesterday, but last year I saw tons of deer. The secret to the Pine Barrens is going deep. It's all flat, so there's really no funnels or anything like that. You have to hunt food sources, water, or rubs/scrapes, or find areas where the vegetation changes and catch them moving from one source of cover to another.Theyseem to like tocruise the dirt roads a lot.You can also bait if you have time to prepare that.

When are you coming down? Maybe we can hook up. I know I'll be out there, hopefully with some snow. If you are hunting without someone who has scouted, you probably won't have any success. There are a lot of deer in Jersey, but that area has a TON of land, so they are spread out pretty good. Try Double Trouble if you can. I haven't taken a deer there yet, but they are plentiful and I am fairly new to bowhunting, so I'm not too down yet. Yesterday was shotgun, but buck only, so I couldn't take a shot.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

we'll be down on thurs jan 11 thru sat the 13th.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Hunting where? There is a lot of land in 21.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

airborne i have to double disagree. i have hunted zone 21 for 30 years. never seen a year like this. i hunted fort dix this year muzzleloader (a whole week) which is just down the road and same thing. tracks were few and the kill was down. i wrote the book on going in deep. there are funnels and key feed areas in the pines if you look. i have hunted probably over 20 days including staying in all day during the rut. i predict the deer kill will be way down in 21. i dont know why but there are deer but not in good numbers this year. on the other hand i hunted stoke forests up north and saw over 20 deer in one day. as far as winter bow in zone 21 if you bait regularly they will come in a string of 6 or 7 like clockwork every evening. especially if its cold and gets them herded up. look at the numbers of deer killed in zone 8 and zone 5. if your traveling from another state i wouldnt bother with the pines but good luck with whatever you do ;)

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

I guess I am just lucky then. Tracks and deer all over Double Troubleeverytime I went there this year, although I had more actual deer sightings there last year. Took a spike and a doe on opening dayat Ft.Dix with the muzzleloader on Nov 7th. I saweasily 30 deer that day at Dix, had to stand up and use my binoculars to check body sizes to figure out which to shoot. Have not baited either spot. I hear Colliers Mills is dead this year, and something-mountain (can't remember the whole name), but there are DEFINATELY deer all over Double Trouble. I found 3 fresh scrapes on monday, THOUSANDS of tracks, and saw 3 doe, and for me, that was a slow day down there. I acutally left early because I was bored. Hell, I even saw my first squirrel down there monday. In 3 years, I never saw one there before!

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

airborne- fort dix is supposed to be 3 point rule. they didnt suspend your hunt privilage? according to the rules there i read i thought thats what they do. if your hunting the special containment area i can understand why youve seen a bunch of deer. you need special permission to hunt in there and i was told you cant even gut your deer in that area. i have hunted the early muzzleloader in fort dix since they started it about 11 years ago. i did see a spike a 4 point and a couple does all week. i sat the whole day every day except for wednesday. i am by no means a trophy hunter but i feel if your allowed to hunt the best week out of the year for the rut with a gun (muzzleloader) i let all does and small bucks pass .im not pushing my way of hunting on you but i can shoot a doe any other time. i walked the roads in dix looking for tracks and it was the same as zone 21. anyway i think its fun to talk up all the stuff that goes on during a season. i hope im wrong about the numbers but this season in those areas just werent like any other ive seen and im actually worried .i could have killed deer in those zones but it just isint like years before. see you in the woods!

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

I actually thought I was shooting a doe, they are tiny spikes, I really shouldn't even call it that! Legally, it checked as a doe. Honestly, I didn't anticipate going back, so I wanted to fill my tags and freezer. We weren't in the containment area. Mu uncle has my paperwork right now, so I can't tell you where we were, I think I remember "17" being the section, but not positive.

Have you been to Double trouble this year? I swear on my mother the tracks are everywhere. I actuallyhave never seenclear buck tracks anywhere else where you get the 2 little dimples in the back. I have followed one buck (I am pretty sure), all yearsince bow but haven't seen him yet, only a bunch of does.

I do agreewith you a little though, because last year I saw deer every time I was there, usually in decentnumbers each time (5-10), this year, I only had 3 sightings, and one wasin the restored town where I enter the park(closed to hunting).

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Perhaps Forked River Mountain is what you're thinking of?

I am pretty familiar with the Jersey Pines, if you need any pointer just ask.

--PB

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

hey- pine buck- do any hunting around the forked river area? its been pretty lean for me. im wondering how the big clubs did. lots of coyotes though.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Hey LO, yeah, been slimmer this year but early season I saw lots of deer, and passed several smaller bucks. This year I am looking for a wall hanger...skunked on that quest so far. I do LOTS of hunting in 21, including FR area as well as much of WareTown.
--Brian

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

I have to whole heartedly agree with liquidorange on this. I hunt Zone 21 22 24 and I have never seen such a drop in the deer numbers as this year. I go and talk to all the local clubs and butchers and they are all saying the same thing. Bad year. So many people I talk to going in the woods are coming out of the woods says did you see any deer I say no or only one doe and their reply is I haven't see a deer in 4 days of hunting. Yes numbers are way down and people are saying that a lot of coyotes have moved into the area. My own club is in Zone 24 but we hunt mostly zone 21. But we had a great number of deer on our food plot and property last year and great videos of buck after buck and this year only fawns with a couple of does and one button buck. sightings are hard to come by. I just seems that the deer are spooky. So who knows. but from my point of view numbers are way way way down.


I wish you the best of luck for your trip down this way.

Brian

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Now how do you do that?Because the track is bigger? IMO you can't tell a buck track from a doe track, they both wear the same type shoe:D.

BTW, good to see you Brian (445Supermag). Youand your wifedid finally have a child didn't you?

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Now how do you do that?Because the track is bigger? IMO you can't tell a buck track from a doe track, they both wear the same type shoe:D.

Are you being serious? You don't know that there's a difference? I could probably write a whole paragraph describing it.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

Please do cause I really don't know and please don't say because of dew claw immpressions.

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

That's part of it for sure. I have never seen a doe trackwith them, although they could be out there. plus bucks tend to walk differently,toes out, while does walk toe in. Buck tracks also curl a little, while does tend to point inward. Here'stwo pics:

Buck (this is the best I could find, no real ones that were clear)


Doe (2 sets, one stepped over the other)


See the difference?

RE: new jersey zone #21???
 

i know one thing. im gonna be out this february trying to thin out those ky-yotees. also as being greatly concerned over my beloved hunting areas i called the state biologist and also got to speak with one of the land management workers. it seems that if the money comes through this year they will be back to planting feed plots again. i think the deer migrated or nature adjusted because of the lack of feed.coyotes and poor acorns. the biologist isint aware of any problems and told me the fall bow harvest was about normal. to me she didnt sound too sure of hereself and i felt i got the generic answer but i bet the numbers if not altered to make it look good will show a poor season. the state should go to a one buck per season rule( 3 points a side )and limit the doe kill to get the numbers back up but what do i know.;)

New to NJ Hunting
 

Hello - I am new to Jersey Hunting after several years of not seeing deer during legal shooting hours. I've hunted upstate NY for over 30 years and need to find something different.

My brother who has been a Jersey resident for a while now says I should go with him. He has not hunted in years because of disabilities, said we should hunt Zone 21 because he lives 10 minutes away. That is fine with me, but would like to know if anyone can help us out and tell me if there is any good hunting there?

ANY help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

SurgeTech